July 13, 2003

Peloton police blotter

One feature I love in the cyclingnews.com coverage is the commissaire's report, the police blotter of the peloton, where the day's fines for cheating, administrative oversights, and other infractions are laid out for all to see.

Here's today:

Commmissaire's decisions

The following riders were each fined 100 Swiss francs for failing to sign in at the stage start: Christensen (CSC), Rebellin, Haselbacher, Peschel, Totschnig, and Zberg (all Gerolsteiner).

Each rider's directeur sportif was also fined for the same infraction.

The directeurs sportifs of US Postal, Team CSC, and Team Bianchi were also fined 100 Swiss francs for failing to follow the instructions of the commissaires during the race.

My sympathies to Jimmy Casper, who has been the lanterne rouge (the last-placed rider in the race, so called because of the red lantern that used to hang at the back of a train) since Stage 3, 10+ minutes behind the nearest competitor. He's finished dead last in more stages (5) than Petacchi won (4), and of course was riding with a neck brace for a while after the Stage 1 crash.